Thursday, February 13th, 2020
Turkish president reaches Islamabad
ISLAMABAD, FEB 13 (DNA) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan along with his spouse Emine Erdoğan has reached Islamabad on two days visit. Prime Minister Imran Khan received and welcomed President of Turkey, Tayyip Erdogan and his wife Emine Erdoğan as they stepped down the airplane at the Nur Khan Airbase on Thursday. Children presented the bouquet to both Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his wife upon their arrival. In what has now become a tradition for special foreign guests, Prime Minister Imran personally drove President Erdogan and theRead More
Pakistan concerned over sale of air defence system to India
Islamabad on Thursday expressed concern over Washington’s approval of the sale of an air defence system to New Delhi. Foreign Office spokesperson Aisha Farooqui in her weekly press briefing stated that South Asia cannot afford a further arms race in the region. The Indian media on Tuesday had reported that the Trump administration has approved the sale of an Integrated Air Defense Weapon System for $1.8 billion to India.The sale was being processed under the Foreign Military Sales and awaits the approval from US Congress. The State Department had saidRead More
Hong Kong suspends schools for longer to counter spread of coronavirus
HONG KONG, FEB 13 (DNA) : Scrambling to contain the spread of coronavirus, Hong Kong extended the suspension of schools on Thursday until at least March 16 and told overseas students studying in the city there was no rush to return. The government also said civil servants would be allowed to work from home until Feb. 23 to reduce the risk of the virus spreading. Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung said secondary and primary schools would not return from an already prolonged break until at least mid-March, extending an earlier suspensionRead More
Trump says he does not mind if Philippines cuts military pact with U.S.
WASHINGTON, FEB 13 (DNA) : U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he did not mind Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte’s decision to end a decades-old military agreement with the United States, a position at odds with that of his defense secretary who viewed the move with dismay. Duterte on Tuesday announced termination of the two-decade-old Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA). U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper called the decision “unfortunate” as Washington and its allies press China to abide by “international rules” in Asia. [L4N2AB0ZL] The U.S. embassy in Manila called itRead More
Pakistani workers abroad remit $13.3 billion in just 7 months
KARACHI, FEB 13 (DNA) : Foreign remittances grew to $13.302 billion in the first seven months of the current fiscal year FY2019-20 as compared to $12.774 billion in the corresponding period of FY2018-19 as more Pakistanis residing in foreign countries continued to send higher remittances back home and the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) strict conditions forced them to utilise legal remittance channels. Percentage-wise, the growth of 4.13 percent has been recorded during July-January period of 2019-20 whereas a healthy growth of 10.8 percent was observed in the same months ofRead More
Mian Soomro chairs meeting to review progress on privatisation process
ISLAMABAD, FEB 13 (DNA) : Federal Minister for Privatisation Mohammed Mian Soomro chaired a meeting to review progress made so far in the privatisation of selected public sector entities. Transaction managers, consultants and senior officials of the ministry attended the meeting, said a press release issued by Ministry of Privatisation on Wednesday. Federal minister was briefed about the current status of various entities to be privatized, including power, financial, insurance, industrial and real estate sectors. Federal minister directed the concerned to address various legal and administrative issues faced in theRead More